· The proposed changes to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will not be included in the impending Finance Bill. This will lead to increased uncertainty and make planning for the future more difficult. In early 2025 the Government will publish a technical consultation which will focus on the detailed application of the reliefs to lifetime transfers into trusts and charges on trust property.
· The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Efra.com) has launched an online survey seeking views on the issues they think the committee should prioritise in 2025 and the ensuing 5 years.
· As at 1 Oct, there were 26,000 active Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements in force, up 13% on July. The highest uptake areas are Devon, East Anglia and North Yorkshire. The action covering the most land area is "Assess soil, produce a soil management plan and test organic matter" covering 2.943 million heactares,34% of the utilised agricultural area.
· The Welsh Government has scrapped its plan for every farm to have 10% tree coverage under the Sustainable Farming Scheme. Instead, a 10% habitat figures will be supported by a hedgerow and management plan.
· UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced the second phase of the Land Use for Net Zero Nature and People Programme with funding of £14 million announced for 5 separate consortia of stakeholders and research organisations that will undertake cutting-edge research into the interlinking themes of soil health, agricultural systems and land use change.
· In the UK and England,2023 saw a continuing decline in wild bird species, down 16% since 1970.
· Defra has published details of Farm Business Income (FBI) in England for the year to Feb 2024 by sector. Following two good years, FBI for dairy farms fell by 68% to £70,900. For comparison FBI for cereal units fell by 73% to an average of £39,400 Specialist pig and poultry units saw significant increases to £135,800 for pig units and £143,600 for poultry farms.
· The Welsh Government has published its June survey of agriculture and horticulture. Over 90% of the land area of Wales is given over to farming. Small decreases in both overall cattle and sheep populations.
· With effect from 6 April 2025, the rate of interest on tax paid late will, increase to 4% above the Bank of England base rate.
· The UK milk price continued to improve, with updated draft figures (not finalised) for Sept showing a gain of 1.48 p/l, to sit at 43.06 pence per litre. The EU average for Sept remains just below the UK at 42.90 p/l,1.22 above the August figure and 4.41 p/l above the average a year ago.
· The latest report from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) shows that sales of antibiotics for use in food producing animals, adjusted for animal populations, were 25.7 mg/kg in 2023, a reduction of 59%.
· According to the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), births to dairy dams in the 3 months to Sept totalled 458,473 head,3 % up on a year ago and the highest recorded figure for the quarter. However, year-to-date registrations are only up 0.8% which would indicate a shift to autumn calving.
· Bluetongue serotype 3 has been confirmed in cattle on a farm in Hampshire resulting in an extension of the restricted zone to include parts of Hampshire and Wiltshire.
· Arla has increased its price for conventional milk by 2.66 p/l to 47.65 p/l and by 1.78 for organic milk to 57.64 p/l whilst First Milk has increased its member milk price by 1.5 p/l to 45.35 p/l.
· In the 7 months to Oct, organic milk deliveries totalled 203.21 million litres, down 9.3% on a year earlier and down 23.1% on 2022/23.
· The Global Dairy Trade auction on 5 Nov saw average price increase of 4.8%
· Tesco, Muller and Arla have launched the Future Dairy Partnership to put sustainability at the heart of the dairy industry. The partnership has pledged to reduce on-farm emissions by 2030.
· Arla, Morrisons, Tesco and Aldi are trialling the use of Bovaer, a feed additive which reduces enteric methane emissions from cows by an average of 27%.
· With effect from 2030, farmers in Denmark will have to pay a levy of £34 per tonne of methane on emissions from livestock, with an increase to £84 per tonne planned for 2035.
· The Competition and Markets Authority has approved the acquisition of Volac's Whey Nutrition business by Arla Foods Ingredients.
· According to Nielsen, in the year to 2 Nov, spend on cow's milk fell by 6.3% and volumes by 1.8%. The main decline was in semi-skimmed milk which makes up 59.6% of volume sales but whole milk volumes grew by 2.3% whilst cheese volumes grew by 3.8%.
· Morrisons is to provide all suppliers with a 5% discount on purchases.
· Figures from NFU Mutual show that the cost of farm fires increased by 37% in 2023 to £110.3 million. The main causes of fires were electrical faults, lightning strikes and arson.
· Defra estimates show that the total number of people working on agricultural holdings in England on 1 June was 285,000, down 2.6% on a year earlier but only 15% were under 45.